Six major technology companies will be subject to tougher rules in the European Union aimed at preventing them from abusing their dominant market positions as “gatekeepers” of the digital economy.
The European Commission said the measures apply to Microsoft, Amazon and Meta, including its services Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram as well as Alphabet, Apple and ByteDance, owners of the video app TikTok.
Companies are no longer allowed to give preferential treatment to their services in the rankings and can merge data from different sources only with the express consent of the user.
They have six months to implement the rules. Violations can result in heavy fines and, in exceptional cases, even dissolution.
“The most influential online businesses will now have to comply with our EU rules,” European Commissioner Thierry Breton wrote in X.
